I recently
overheard this comment at a recent car show I had
my 70 Mustang entered in. The comment was made in
earnest and I totally understand, given what I
know about what I own. You see, the Mustang I own
is a 1970 Mustang Grabber. Now over the years, I
have owned a number of Mustangs, all of which I
loved and am proud to have called mine for a
time. Some of these include a 1968 GT500 Shelby,
1966 GT350H, 65 GT A code fastback, 70 351 C 4V
coupe, an 84 Mustang SVO, as well as a pristine
yellow 1970 Boss 302 I bought from the original
owner in '79. They are all history now, owned by
others and hopefully enjoyed. Even the Boss 302
that I owned for over 20 years. Yeah sold it too.
Insanity can strike the best of us. After four
years of no Mustangs in the family, I was having
way too many senior moments. I needed another
Mustang to get me back to normal. As we all know,
the prices of them are just going up so I figured
I needed to find one before they are all out of
my reach. I decided on another 1970, since they
were more or less where most of my expertise was
the best and they are my favorites. In High
School, friends owned Shelbys, Bosses, and Mach
1s when they were new. My first ride in a Mustang
was in 1969 in a 66 Shelby GT 350 when I was a
High School sophomore. So I set out to find a 70
yellow fastback and intended to clone my old Boss
302.
I found a 70 yellow fastback right in the city
where I live. It had been in the paper for about
a week. She had a three year old paint job on
her. She was a 302 2V automatic with folddown
seat, new seat upholstery, and woodgrain dash. At
some point, the hood had a scoop installed and
the black stripe treatment like a 70 Mach 1 was
painted onto it. The left taillight didn't work
and the brakes, which are drum, were horrible.
She was all yellow with a rear spoiler and
interior needs that I knew how to repair. The kid
that sold it had mentioned in his ad that it was
a yellow grabber mustang. I just figured that he
meant the color, which some people call Grabber
Yellow. "Nope," he said, "it's a
Grabber. I have some pictures of it somewhere
years ago when Dad and I were at a picnic. I'll
see if I can find them." I said okay and a
friend and I got a trailer and brought her home.
She needed a complete engine detail. The
overspray from when she was painted was
everywhere under the hood and all over the
original engine. I spent a whole weekend
detailing the engine and then the compartment. I
got a new shifter bezel, and various other little
nicknacks to replace worn items. It had a 69
steering wheel and I found a correct 70 wheel
with the deluxe pad. It was coming along. Then I
got a call from the kid who told me he had found
some of the old pictures of the car. I drove to
his house and we sat down at the kitchen table.
Sure enough, there were some pictures of the car
taken about 10 years ago, yellow with a black C
stripe and those dog dish hubcaps and trim rings.
Now through all of the years, I personally have
seen only 3 Grabbers so I had to really rethink
the Boss clone idea. My wife said, "Well
you've done it again, haven't you? Found ANOTHER
collector Mustang." Sigh. What can I say,
dear? Grin.
You see, just as 1970 began, sometime around
February, and after the 70 models had been
introduced, Ford released a special model called
the Mustang Grabber, to promote the lineup of
"grabber" colors Ford had that year.
This was in conjuction with the more well known
Maverick Grabbers. According to the factory press
release in early 1970, the Mustang Grabber was
available with Grabber Green, Grabber Blue,
Grabber Orange, Vermillion, and Bright Yellow.
Some Grabbers were also known to be Red, as shown
in some promo literature. I
know of two for sure that exist. All Mustang
Grabbers were Mustang Sportsroofs, or fastbacks,
with an option on the invoice called
"Grabber Special Value Package." The
Grabbers had a distinct stripe kit that was very
similar to the 1969 Boss 302 "C" stripe
but without the letters. The Grabbers came with
either 302 or 351 windsor 2V engines, dual
color-keyed sport mirrors, black rear taillight
panels, and 14 inch center caps and trim rings
that were similar to the standard wheels on the
Boss 302. These cars also came with either black
or white interiors. Many
Grabbers have been lost in history due to
repaints during a time when the stripe kits were
not available as they are today to completely
restore the car to original condition. Such was
the case with my Grabber. There may be many
Grabbers out there that simply look like a plain
Mustang fastback. Only the invoice can tell for
sure. Kevin Marti, of Marti Auto Works, has
documented in his book, "Mustang by the
Numbers", that there were 5,120 Grabber
Mustangs sold in 1970. Considering the years that
have passed and the many ends that these and
other Mustangs have unfortunately experienced, it
gives one pause to consider how many of these
great looking examples of the Mustang's Golden
age are still around. I got in touch with Kevin
Marti and told him about my car. I sent him a
copy of my title and he was able to send me a
duplicate original invoice of the car showing the
"Grabber Special Value Package" as one
of the options that the car was ordered with.
Kevin was one of the nicest guys you could ever
want to meet. He was completely willing to tell
me all he could about my car. The invoice of a
Grabber is the ONLY way known to date to be able
to verify if a car was a Grabber. There isn't any
known code on the door sticker or body buck tag
that denotes a Grabber.
Now today, you can get the Mustang Grabber C
stripe kit from several vendors online. They are
very easy, although time consuming, to apply. I
located a set of 14" steel rims and the dog
dish hubcaps and trim rings and have put my car
back to the Grabber appearance, with a few
modifications. I painted the taillight bezels
black like a 70 Boss and have kept the hood as it
is for now. I added rear louvers, front spoiler,
1" sway bar, chrome valve covers and air
cleaner lid, export brace, cadmium fender bolts,
new exhaust system, and 15" Magnum 500's.
The original wheels and hub caps are ready for
use for the complete original look, if I desire.
Originally, my car was pretty much optionless.
The folddown seat, woodgrain dash, and rear
spoiler were added in years past. As far as I
know, any option available for a Mustang was
available for a Grabber. I love the comments from
people who ask things like, "is that a
Boss?", "is that a Mach?", and, of
course, "aw he made that up." It is
interesting to talk to people at shows who say
that after seeing my car now remember seeing a
Grabber in the past but had forgotten about it.
Many didn't know what they were but liked the
look. I am told that many referred to them as the
"poor man's Boss 302" describing the
desire of the Boss look without the sticker
price.
I'm grateful to have found this lost treasure for
sure. She will not be cloned into something she
isn't. The Mustang Grabber is a one of a kind
Mustang that is unique and special unto itself
and is deserving of attention and status. I am
the webmaster of the Mustang Grabber Registry, http://1970mgr.org. This Registry is dedicated to the
Mustang Grabbers that were, are, and hopefully
will survive. All Mustang Grabbers are welcome
regardless of their condition, including wrecked,
destroyed, or parted out vehicles. All owner
information is kept strictly confidential within
the Registry. No information about an owner will
be given out without the express permission of
that owner. To contact the Mustang Grabber
Registry, just email me at webmaster@1970mgr.org . I would love to hear from you. Maybe
there is someone out there with a Grabber or who
knows where one might be. Let's get them all
together and help each other keep them alive and
well.
"Aw, he made that up!!" No I didn't,
honest
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